AOL Canada and the Huffington Post Media Group announce regional expansion
TORONTO, May 8, 2012 /CNW/ - Weeks away from celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Huffington Post Canada, AOL Canada and the Huffington Post Media Group (HPMG) announce today a regional expansion that will include HuffPost British Columbia and HuffPost Alberta. The sites will feature HuffPost's signature mix of news, blogging, community, and social engagement, to capture the unique cultures of both provinces, with regional editorial teams leveraging the power of the HuffPost platform to deliver the most important and most entertaining local stories.
"HuffPost Canada was our first international edition and has always had a special place in the HuffPost family," said Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of HPMG. "And I'm delighted that we'll be welcoming even more voices to the conversation by expanding to British Columbia and Alberta, just as we expanded to Quebec in February. Since we're already in a celebratory mood with HuffPost Canada approaching its first birthday, there's no better time to enlarge the discussion with the unique perspectives of these vibrant provinces."
HuffPost British Columbia and HuffPost Alberta will bring HuffPost's blogging platform to the Western Canadian media market, not only connecting readers with the news they most care about, but inviting them to tell their own stories. Together with the journalistic experience and local expertise of HuffPost's editorial teams, these stories, told in the voices of those who live and work in British Columbia and Alberta, will reflect the provinces' vital issues across a range of subjects, from politics and lifestyle to business and sports.
"More than one third of all Canadian traffic to Huffington Post sites is from Western Canada, so regional expansion is a natural progression," said Graham Moysey, general manager, AOL Canada. "The site has seen tremendous success since its launch in May 2011; monthly unique visitors to Huffington Post sites have increased 80 per cent to 2.8 M UVs."
The strong social DNA, vital to the HuffPost model, will extend to connect with the social communities of B.C. and Alberta. The Huffington Post Canada currently generates more than 2 million social actions a month through its commenting and sharing platforms and its social media channels including facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.*
HuffPost B.C. and HuffPost Alberta are scheduled to launch in Fall 2012.
Source: comScore, Inc. Total Canada, Home and Work, March 2012 compared to June 2011, The Huffington Post data from [E] Huffington Post Global.
*Based on HPMG internal data
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